Techbargains: HP-Desktop Reviews

HP is still chugging away at making quality Windows 8 PC equipment. They have a huge line of notebooks, desktops and all-in-ones that are trying to make your experience better. Just a little while ago, they began making the EliteOne 800 line, which is a line of touch and non-touch all-in-one desktops. There is a vast array of models to choose from. The model that HP sent us is a pre-production model, which has all the bells and whistles. Read on to see how this top-of-the-line model faired.

Main Features and Specifications:

1920 x 1080 Full HD Screen with 10-point capacitive touch and full rotating base for landscape or portrait use.

Windows 8 Professional 64-bit

Intel Core i5-4570S (2.9GHZ Dual Core with Hyper threading)

AMD Radeon HD 7650 Discrete Graphics

Micron RealSSD C400 256GB SSD

8GB DDR3 1600MHz RAM

Slim Tray-Load SuperMulti DVD Writer

3-year parts, 3 years labour, and 3 years onsite service (3/3/3) limited warranty

Full HD Touchscreen: We have never been really big fans of touch, but HP has done Windows 8 touch better than any other device we have tried so far. The screen is bright, clear and full of color. We really enjoyed watching movies, playing games, and just using the computer for whatever reason we could come up with.

Orientation Options: Like almost all other monitors on the market, the G1 has the option to turn the screen to portrait. We actually found that we enjoyed using the computer much better this way. It took up even less space on the counter and all the functions we wanted to perform worked perfectly. The 23" screen was more than enough to write a document or perform other landscape type functions. But where it really shined was in viewing web pages. The height and resolution combined made it so we almost never had to scroll down to look at something. This was a very good experience.

Performance: The G1 we received from HP is preproduction model with the specs listed above. This is a very fast computer. Boot up takes around 9-11 seconds and we did not find any tasks that took very long. We viewed several 1080p videos both streamed and played directly from the device. They all played very well. The only games we played were from the Microsoft store and they all worked flawlessly. The 8GB of ram allowed us to run several different processes and not see a bit of slowdown. Also, as we just mentioned, we streamed several different uncompressed direct rip Blu-ray MKV files (some over 40GB) and the Intel 6205 N adapter performed perfectly. HP, this is a great setup.

Peripheral Connections: The G1 came with more than enough ports for all the peripherals you might need to connect. There are 6 USB 3.0 ports (1 Fast-Charging), an SD media card reader, Gigabit Ethernet, 9-Pin Serial, Audio and DisplayPort. The USB 3.0 ports work as some of the best I have seen. We were able to transfer multiple gigabytes of data to an external hard drive with an average write speed of around 135 Mbps. All the connections are good quality and appear that they will hold up well for many years.

What We Didn't Like:

Heavy (Bulky): This is a very heavy piece of hardware. I know it's not supposed to be portable, but even moving it around on a counter was difficult. It does not slide well because of the heavy-duty rubber feet on the bottom. You have to basically lift it up and move it. The telescoping stand is a great feature, but makes moving it just a little bit harder. The bulk can be a good thing when you want it to stay in place, but it is not fun when you need to pick it up and move it.

Internal Speakers: The internal speakers do perform their task, but just barely. They could definitely sound better. In comparing them to other all-in-ones including the iMac and Lenovo models, they leave something to be desired. Connecting a decent set of speakers easily resolves this problem, but that's an additional cost. These speakers should perform better.

Price: With this being a pre-production model, we really didn't have any idea about what the price was going to be. Based on other G1 models in production, we estimated a price of approximately $1,600. Shortly after completing the review, it was revealed that the MSRP was going to be closer to $2,500. It is expected that all-in-one computers will cost more than their standard desktop or laptop counterparts, not including the touch interface, but for this kind of money, we just cannot justify the cost. This is probably the best all-in-one PC experience we have ever had, but the price is just a bit too much for us to overcome.

Our Verdict:

Windows 8 is the operating system that everyone loves to hate. It has had a difficult launch and has struggled drastically compared to the launch and acceptance of Windows 7. I personally have Windows 8 on two computers and have not had one bit of trouble with it. It's definitely different from its predecessor, but not so much that the average user would struggle much to figure things out. The HP EliteOne 800 G1 is a very good computer with good hardware and a grasp on what Microsoft wanted OEM's to do with their operating system. For us, the gigantic problem standing in the way of a purchase is a four-digit price that starts with a 2!

You may notice some similarities between this write up and the Envy 23 review we posted back in April, although this HP does not come with as many bells and whistles. Nonetheless, the Pavilion 23 is built for both work and play with a Windows 8 operating system and delivers faster than expected processor speeds. The 23" touch screen allows you to do everything from navigating the web to playing games, and a variety of customizable features let you get the specs you are looking for without spending a fortune in the process.

No Hassle Setup: This desktop is so easy to setup and is totally fail proof right out of the box. Just plug in the cables to the back and plug it into the wall and that's it. HP also includes a cheaply made wired mouse and keyboard in the box, but you will probably want to replace them with some of your own. Push the power button located on the top left-hand side to begin customizing your home settings and you are ready to go.

Touch Capabilities: Like the Envy 23, the touch screen on this desktop is truly impressive. With its 5-point multi-touch tech, you get instant response with even the slightest push of the screen. Watching movies and playing games became truly addicting, and we had a hard time pulling the kids away from all the tantalizing apps and games available to download from the store. If you decide that you do not want to use your keyboard for typing, simply switch over to the touch keyboard found under settings for full touch screen mode.

Daring Display: The HD display on this desktop is simply beautiful and we could not keep our hands off of it. This model came with Intel's standard HD graphics and they do not disappoint, most of the time. The graphics were best when playing games, but were lacking when it came to HD programming; more details can be found below.

Customize Your Desktop: Like all other HP's, this desktop is totally customizable so you can spend the amount you want and upgrade to the features that fit your style. This model starts around $850 and goes up from there depending on your personalized specs, which is not too shabby when compared to other all-in-ones on the market today.

Decent Audio: Although you don't get an upgraded audio system on this model, the sound quality of this desktop does a decent job. Don't get us wrong here, you aren't going to get deep bass and amazing tone range, but the speaker bar found along the bottom of this PC can fill a room without any problems.

What We Didn't Like:

Minor Grievances: We only had a few run ins with slow load up times, but they did occur and it was usually when we needed to get something done quickly. We also noticed that when we were in touch screen mode and wanted to switch back to using the mouse, the computer would freeze up and we had to go back to the start screen and reload our page in order to get any kind of response, which became very annoying very quickly.

Graphics Lacking: Much like the Envy 23, the display on many of the movies and TV shows we tried to watch on this desktop came across grainy and pixilated up close. Although colors were bright and the screen looks good, the graphics do not even come close to an older desktop that we still currently use today.

Dated Design: The Pavilion 23 is definitely a solidly built unit, in fact it may be a little too solid. At almost 2.5" at its thickest point, the design feels outdated in the lineup of today's all-in-one desktops. It seems that the team at HP has decided against modernizing even the simplest of features, like the cheaply made mouse and keyboard or the flimsy tray loading DVD player. Why have these items not been upgraded and made standard to a more modern, nicer keyboard and mouse or a slot loading Blu-ray player? These things may seem small, but they make the whole system just feel old fashioned and outdated. Also, we were not thrilled about the design of the support stand attached to the back of this desktop, which feels like it will break off if you have to move or adjust the desktop at all.

Our Verdict:

The Pavilion 23 All-In-One is a desktop that is built to perform for both work and play, but the touch screen feature really makes this unit shine. Of course you are not going to use touch screen mode every time you use your desktop, but it does come in handy for gaming, navigating through web pages, going through pictures and the list could go on and on. Unfortunately, HP still needs to step it up when it comes to this desktop's HD graphics and the outdated design and look of this system needs a modern overhaul.

All-in-one desktops occupy a very unique niche. In the simplest sense, they are a compact desktop computer, with all the individual peripherals integrated to create a single unifying design. There are advantages to this quality alone. The AIO's smaller footprint gives you more freedom to clutter your desk with other odds and ends. Having the guts of the computer contained within the same chassis as the monitor also minimizes cable clutter. And not insignificantly, these AIOs exude a style and elegance that is rarely seen in the traditional desktop design. Of course, with advantages there are also caveats. Often, a sacrifice in size directly correlates with compromised performance and upgradeability. Fortunately, technology moves at such a rapid pace that today's second-best is still faster than yesterday's cutting edge. Simply put, although today's AIO hardware may not match the best that today's standard desktops offer, they are often powerful enough to outperform the previous generation's best.

However, AIOs should not only be considered simply as "compact desktops"; they have evolved in function as well as in form. Over the generations, the AIOs have incorporated several features absent in most standard desktops, some of which include a touchscreen display, A/V connectivity normally found on HDTVs (HDMI, component, S-video, RF), multimedia content introduced through built-in TV tuners, integrated webcams and microphones, integrated wireless networking, and more. These extraneous features have pushed the territory of the AIO beyond its native "office" habitat. Your mainstream desktop can now become so much more.
Today, we review one such all-in-one desktop, the HP Touchsmart 520. The 520 shares many traits to the Touchsmart 610 we reviewed in the past but with some minor differences. These include less flexible tilting adjustments, a new aesthetic design, and a slightly different upgrade path when you first configure your computer on HP's website. Think of the 520 as a slightly less expensive and less powerful brother to the 610. Specifications for the configuration we reviewed are listed as follows:

Performance: The 520 comes equipped with an Intel Core i7-2600s 2.8GHz Quad-Core Sandy Bridge processor. The "s" at the end of the processor name identifies the CPU as "low voltage". What Intel simply did in this case was underclock the 2600 from 3.4GHz down to 2.8GHz in order to decrease power consumption. This is a performance drop when compared to the original 2600 processor, however the 2600s is still powerful enough to handle pretty much any mainstream application, even those that require heavy CPU usage. We noticed no slowdown when running multiple browser windows, playing video files, or working in more intensive applications like Maya and 3DS Max. On a side note, the i7-2600s is considerably more powerful than the i5 2.7GHz and 3.1GHz processors found on the newest 2011 iMac. The iMacs also use "low voltage" Sandy Bridge processors, however Apple went with i5 instead of i7 CPUs. Although i5 CPUs are quad-core, they do not support hyper-threading, which means there are no extra virtual cores. The i7-2600s in the Touchsmart 520 DOES support hyper-threading, which means you get 4 real cores AND 4 virtual cores. This makes a huge difference in applications that support multiple cores.

The Radeon HD6450 video card is fine for streaming 1080p video and for playing Blu-Ray movies. We experienced no performance related hitches while watching video. Please be aware, however, that this card is simply too underpowered for any intensive PC gaming. The HD6450 is designed primarily for media center PCs in order to run HD video and provide the necessary inputs that integrated graphics options do not provide. If you are considering PC gaming as part of your repertoire, we would recommend you configure your 520 with a more powerful graphics card, since there is no way to upgrade this afterwards.

We did experience one area of slowdown, and that was during startup. This will be mentioned later in the review.

Design: As expected of an AIO, the 520 occupies a very minimal footprint on your desk. All the internals are neatly built into the same chassis as the screen. Surprisingly, the cabinet depth is not much thicker than a standard LCD monitor. We've had a few people pass by and express genuine surprise that the LCD monitor was actually a fully-fledged desktop. Aesthetically, the 520 eschews any gaudy embellishment. A simple solid black bezel encompasses the screen, and the whole unit is supported by a sturdy silver stand. Although the 520 doesn't have the high-end panache of the all-aluminum iMac (the chassis of the 520 is made almost entirely of plastic), it maintains an unobtrusive and slim profile that can easily fit into any home decor.

Having an all-in-one design also minimizes the number of cables snaking on top of, under, and behind your desk. Thanks to the built-in wireless networking and included wireless keyboard and mouse, one power cable is all that is needed to start spilling your creative juices. This also means that the 520 is not as "tied down" to one location unlike a traditional desktop. Simply unplug one cable and the 520 can be moved elsewhere. Furthermore, there is a recessed handle on the top edge of the monitor, presumably so that you can move it between rooms if necessary.

Screen: The screen is another highlight of the 520, although it is not without flaws. 1920x1080 is, in our opinion, the perfect resolution for a 23 inch display. Colors are relatively accurate out of the box and adjusted very well after we calibrated with a Pantone colorimeter. Maximum brightness level is good (although not blindingly bright at highest settings like some other displays). Viewing angles were generally very good when looking straight on or slightly off-center in all directions. Tilting your head towards the left or the right causes the screen to take on a yellow shift relatively quickly. Moving your head above or below the screen causes it to darken noticeably. Sharpness of the image, however, is still quite good at these extreme angles, and despite these color/brightness shifts, it is still entirely possible for more than one person to enjoy the movie from different seating positions. Speaking of sharpness, we did notice that the screen was not as razor sharp as most other displays we have reviewed. There appears to be an ever so slight out-of-focus look to icons and text. It is minor enough that during long term usage our eyes quickly adjusted and this issue did not distract us. It was unique to this display, and we assume it is the touchscreen interface that creates this illusion.

Obviously what is most unique about the screen is the touch capability. Overall we were very impressed with the accuracy and response of the touch screen. Our finger movements were tracked quickly and precisely. HP has made it entirely possible to be able to navigate to every function of this computer without the use of a keyboard or mouse. Basic tasks are accomplished by simply touching your finger onto the desired programs, windows, or buttons on the screen. More complicated commands can be accomplished with double taps, swipes, and simple gestures. If you are familiar with the gestures on the MacBook, you will feel right at home with the 520. If you needed to type or input hotkeys, an onscreen virtual keyboard is easily accessible for you to touch-type the command. HP also includes a nifty program called HP Touchsmart Magic Canvas. This program essentially opens up a separate desktop that is intended to be more gesture friendly. You can pin notes or graffiti right on the wall, interact with the carousel on the bottom to access several handy little apps like weather, eBay, music & video, surf the web with a more touch friendly browser and more. This is a good alternative for those who plan to use this computer more as a multimedia station (i.e. at the kitchen, kiosk, living room) than as a dedicated desktop.

What We Didn't Like:

Future Upgradeability: One of the most common, and justified, complaints of the AIO form factor is the inability to individually upgrade many components. In general, the only way to upgrade most of your components, including the processor and graphics card, is to upgrade to stronger options when you first buy your desktop. Once it is in your hands, swapping out components is either too difficult or too time consuming, not to mention you will most likely void your warranty. The problem is that computer technology moves at such a breakneck pace that your currently very capable specs will undoubtedly need an upgrade down the road.

To be fair, HP does it better than most brands with the 520. Removing the rear housing to access the RAM and hard drive requires less steps and HP provides helpful visual directions on their website for accomplishing this. Nevertheless, we do NOT recommend these procedures to anyone not familiar with opening up a PC.

Bloatware: Partly because of HP's overly robust multimedia suite and the Touchsmart (touch-sensitive) software, you will be greeted by a multitude of unnecessary programs and add-ons pre-installed on your shiny new computer at startup. Not only does this affect the startup performance of the computer (which it does quite noticeably), it is downright irritating. The first time we opened an Internet Explorer browser, we were greeted to a few toolbars requesting to be added to the browser interface. This does not count two different toolbars which were ALREADY added without any permission (Norton AntiVirus toolbar and Bing toolbar). We strongly suggest when you first turn on this computer that you remove all the extraneous items you may not need, and there will be quite a few. However, it is important to leave the HP specific programs alone, since some of these programs are critical for touchscreen and multimedia functionality.

Our Verdict:

We were impressed by the Touchsmart 520 for its power, versatility, and design. Despite its reasonable price and compact footprint, the 520 impresses us with its performance thanks to its powerful Core i7 hardware. Although it is perfectly fine for your 520 to be a primary workstation computer, you should be aware of the fact that the 520 is versatile enough to take on other roles. All the features, from the touchscreen functionality to the multimedia additions are well implemented in this model. We specifically recommend this computer for two types of buyers - (1) those who want a smaller, more compact computer with plenty of power and a large screen and (2) those looking for a computer that can double up as a capable multimedia center. If you fit one of these two brackets (and most of you probably do), we'd recommend you play test one of these at your local brick & mortar store.

All in one systems are frequently touted by computer manufacturers as the center of a home's computing experience. They combine televisions, desktops and monitors into one package, and the newer systems toss in the added advantage being touch screen enabled. However, these frequently come with a downside of being rigid and unflexible, which can become a user unfriendly experience over time. This can frequently cause some users to abandon the touchscreen functionality in favor of the traditional mouse and keyboard controls.

HP has decided that it wants to reinvigorate the concept of all in one computing by trying to make the experience more social, more inclusive, and more ergonomic. Its solution is the TouchSmart 610, a machine designed to adjust to your family's need and become the nerve center of your home's computing experience. How well does it accomplish these tasks?

Very Strong Performance: We recently reviewed the Dell Inspiron One 2320, and we were impressed by its specs. However, by checking the Windows Experience Index, the TouchSmart 610 actually managed to edge this system out with its ratings. The TouchSmart received a 7.6 for RAM operations and a 5.9 for hard drive transfer rate, but that's where the similarities end between those two systems. The TouchSmart received a 7.6 for processor calculations and 6.7 for both desktop performance and 3D gaming performance (with all of these stats topping out at a maximum of 7.9).

Needless to say,this system is more than powerful enough to stick around for a very long time. We were pleased to run a large variety of programs without any slowdown, and we were able to play a number of recently released games like Batman: Arkham City and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 without any problems. Even better was the fact that the system was incredibly quiet -- we only detected a slight hum from the fan after multiple hours of use.

System Design: The TouchSmart 610 has very distinctive lines reminiscent of a flatscreen TV, which stands out from other all in one systems on the market, which can be seen as large, boxy units that are lacking in personality or style. HP managed to compress every component for the TouchSmart into a unit system that could easily fit into an office, dorm room or sit atop a kitchen counter. The majority of the inputs for the system have been placed on the rear of the system behind a pull down door, which hides the USB 2.0, audio, Ethernet and coaxial cables for the system. This is a smart design choice that helps focus attention on the screen of the unit and works pretty well for the most part, but we noticed that the space behind the pull down door becomes particularly crowded when you plug in a number of cables, particularly considering that coaxial cables aren't exactly the most flexible cables out there.

Recline Functionality: Most all in one systems are fixed units attached to a stand or pedestal, and while they may provide a slight shift in angle, you basically have a heads on display at all times. The result of this forces your arm to remain parallel to the ground, which becomes extremely tiring after a while and usually results in people abandoning touchscreen functionality in favor of traditional mouse and keyboard input. The TouchSmart solves this by tilting forward five degrees and sliding backwards up to 60 degrees, making it almost completely flat. This shift in system orientation gives the TouchSmart some advantages other all in ones don't have. By sliding the system almost flat, users can rest their hands on the bezel of the all in one, making it more ergonomic and eliminating the arm fatigue issue.

Reclining the system also makes it much easier to gather people around to play games, watch shows or browse websites. This is particularly true for little kids that may have a bit of a harder time with seeing higher screens, as the system will shift to come closer to them. While it's still possible to use the wireless mouse and keyboard included with the system to control the unit, it's much more engaging to users to crowd around the unit and use the system.

Magic Canvas (When Everything Works Perfectly): This is the fifth evolution of the TouchSmart Software for touch enabled machines, and the TouchSmart 610 really lets users interact with their machine in a large number of ways. Sure, you can launch programs by double tapping on the desktop, but the true star of the system is the Magic Canvas feature, which brings users to a colorful and interactive desktop where you can use magnets (interactive thumbtacks) to pin written or verbal notes, video or audio files, photos and frequently visited websites. That makes it easy for a family to leave notes to each other about missed phone calls, what dinner will be that night, or other important details.

There are more than a dozen apps pre-loaded in a carousel format that highlights the entertainment features of the system, like launching Rhapsody or the HP movie store for music and films, as well as view TV shows through Hulu or Netflix. That's without using the live TV browser and Windows Media Center interface to turn the system into a DVR. Users can pull up news through RSS feeds, browse the web, and interact with Facebook friends and Twitter feeds with customized apps. The system even comes pre-loaded with UbiSoft's R.U.S.E., a strategy game that was designed to take advantage of touchscreens, and cooking apps with recipes if you choose to use the system in a kitchen.

Display Quality: Like most touchscrens, the TouchSmart 610 supports multi-touch gestures for commanding files and windows with swipes, flicks or pinches. But apart from these obvious commands, the display is unbelievably solid across virtually every facet of the system. It's possible to press down hard upon the screen without any discoloration, waves or visual impacts that many all in ones suffer from. Content shown on the screen was crisp and clear, particularly with Blu-rays and streamed media, which looked very sharp. Minor cases of noise and artifacting cropped up here and there, but they were minimal compared to the detail of the screen.

There was a rather interesting quirk of the viewing angles of the system, which changed based on the tilt of the unit. If you left the system head on, you'd run into some color shifting at some of the extreme angles of the system. However, if you tilt and recline the system the full 60 degrees, the viewing angles essentially disappear. The only potential recreation in this configuration we noticed was by looking at the system from the bottom of the table at an extreme angle, which you'd never do. This makes it incredibly versatile, meaning that you could easily gather a number of users around without crowding the screen.

HP Linkup: Do you have a wireless display enabled television that lets you display the content of a smaller screen on a larger monitor? Probably not if you haven't bought a new high end set in the past two years. However, you'll actually be able to take advantage of this thanks to the HP Linkup feature, which lets you connect a remote computer by your wireless connection. The Linkup feature displays a virtual desktop of the remote system on the TouchSmart's screen, giving you the chance to display a smaller laptop on a much bigger screen without using WiDi adapters or external items. Thanks to Linkup, you can also control the system solely by the TouchSmart touchscreen, and you can even trade files between Linkup systems easily, without relying upon thumb drives or cables. That makes the Linkup feature effective in both home and business settings.

Beats Audio: HP has been refining the Beats Audio presentation of its speakers for quite some time now, and it definitely shows off with the TouchSmart 610 -- they were some of the loudest speakers that we've tested on an all in one or a laptop. Bass thumped with solid reverberation, while mid and high tones from acoustic music were crisp and beautiful. We didn't even need to mess with the Beats audio control panel to get these excellent levels, though adjusting them enhanced our sound even more, and we didn't have to turn the speakers past 50 percent of the maximum volume to get room filling sound that was overwhelmingly loud.

What We Didn't Like:

Magic Canvas (When It Doesn't Work Well): We liked the convenience of the Magic Canvas, but we found that the majority of problems that we had with the system came with the Magic Canvas when elements of it simply stopped working the way we wanted (or hoped) that it would. The Canvas seems unreasonably limited to the set of pre-installed apps that were provided with the system. All of the documentation for the Magic Canvas doesn't indicate a way of adding new apps or programs to the carousel that aren't direct from HP. So, if you buy a new program or want to add a separate app that you find more useful than the ones provided (like Tweetdeck, for instance) you can't put that in the carousel. It appears that the only additions you can make to the carousel are webpages; that's a useful feature, but rather limited when it comes to computer usage.

We did find it strange that the system doesn't give you the option to automatically launch into the Magic Canvas either. As a feature that really works to highlight the touchscreen functionality of the device, it would've been better if the system automatically launched into the canvas, or if there was a customized startup screen that let you auto-launch to either the canvas or desktop. As it stands now, you essentially have to leave the system on and in sleep mode (although you're not guaranteed that it will stay in the Magic Canvas mode).

The Canvas also added some lag to the touchscreen functionality, which we didn't notice when the system was on the standard Windows desktop. We found lag with transitions across the canvas desktop, as well as lag with the launching of an app or recognition of some commands. It would take a few taps on the screen and up to ten seconds before programs would launch -- something that didn't happen on the standard desktop. We also noticed some strange quirks as well, like some intermittently slow browser launches or the fact that the pre-loaded R.U.S.E. game actually went straight to Steam instead of launching from the system itself (that wasn't make or break, but it was an interesting decision since, as we mentioned earlier, you can't carousel other games you add to the Touchsmart) Finally, we discovered that the Netflix app on the carousel didn't recognize our username and password, while launching the browser app and navigating to the Netflix website worked perfectly fine.

Overall though, these issues are to be taken with a grain of salt -- you're not forced to use the Magic Canvas feature at all, and the convenience of the feature, when it works well, is a big bonus for the system.

No USB 3.0: We loved the specs of the TouchSmart 610 -- it's clearly been designed to be a machine that will last for years, but it's an odd design decision to not include even one USB 3.0 port on this system. Tons of desktops and laptops are transitioning to these superspeed ports, but it's not even an option for the Touchsmart. That means that users will be forced to rely on outdated and slow transfer speeds when they're trying to archive music, movies or other files, wasting time in the process.

Our Verdict:

We were very impressed by the Touchsmart 610 -- it's a system that beautifully designed, and it's both robust with its power and innovative with its functionality. The computer's specs are packed in a slim, compact frame that can take virtually everything you throw at it without any slowdown issues, and it's light enough to carry from place to place in the house without being bulky or seeming out of place. It's also clearly an entertainment powerhouse, with the TV tuner functionality, enhanced Beats Audio speakers and large screen that displays disc based and streamed content sharply. The tilt functionality is innovative, and brings the machine closer to users, drawing them in to use the touchscreen functionality.

We liked the Magic Canvas feature as well, because we thought that it was a visually engaging way to get users to interact with the machine. We thought that the addition of apps and other functions, like notes and media functions really highlighted the entertainment aspects of the computer. Unfortunately, we there were a lot of quirks within the Magic Canvas, like some lag and limited expansion of items for the carousel that restricted the feature. Since you're not forced to use the Magic Canvas, it's a somewhat tolerable issue, just as the exclusion of USB 3.0 ports, while not a make or break oversight, is a definite detraction.

Overall though, the TouchSmart 610 is easily one of the best all in one's on the market, and if you're interested in a computer in this class, you should definitely consider this machine.